Stanton expected to rejoin Yankees for home stretch
Giancarlo Stanton could return to the New York Yankees for the start of their upcoming homestand, manager Aaron Boone said Thursday.
Stanton last played on June 25. He is on the 60-day injured list with a strained PCL in his right knee. The four-time all-star also missed time earlier in the season.
Boone said the current plan is for Stanton to play in instructional league games this weekend. Barring a setback, he will be in New York next week when the Yankees open a series Tuesday with the Los Angeles Angels.
What role Stanton might play over the final two weeks of the regular season isn’t clear, but the Yankees have a healthy lead in the American League East and will be playing into October.
In nine games and 35 total plate appearances in 2019, Stanton is 9-for-31 with one homer and seven RBIs.
Stanton is a .268 career hitter with 306 homers and 779 RBIs over 10 seasons with the Yankees (2018-19) and Miami Marlins (2010-17).
He was the National League’s most valuable player in 2017, when he led the majors with 59 home runs and 132 RBIs.
Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich will not need surgery on his fractured right kneecap, according to multiple reports Thursday, a bit of good news that still will not bring him back this season regardless of how far the team advances.
Yelich fouled a ball off his right knee Tuesday against the Miami Marlins and immediately left the game. It was initially suspected that he would need surgery, but his updated status means a shorter recovery time of eight to 10 weeks.
He will be fully recovered before the start of spring training and is not expected to have any longterm effects, according to Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns.
“Look, at this point I think what we’re assuming and planning for is that Christian is not going to play again this season in any capacity,” Stearns said Thursday on the team’s flagship radio station WTMJ. “If something very unforeseen would change that, then we can alter our prognosis. But our plan, and Christian’s plan right now, is that he’s not going to play again this season.”
Yelich, the reigning National League MVP, was tied for second in the NL with a .329 batting average and 44 home runs entering Thursday’s action. He also has 97 RBIs, 100 runs scored and 30 steals.
The Brewers entered Thursday’s play in second place in the NL Central, 31/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. The Brewers also led the Chicago Cubs by half a game for the second wild card in the NL.
Los Angeles Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani will have his second surgery in as many MLB seasons as he’s set to undergo a season-ending procedure Friday to address a bipartite patella in his left knee.
This surgery will have a shorter timetable for recovery than the Tommy John elbow surgery he had after the 2018 season. A full recovery is expected in eight to 12 weeks, putting him on track to be healthy for the start of spring training.
There was no indication of a knee issue for Ohtani, who hit a home run in Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Indians. He has batted .286 with 18 home runs and 62 RBIs in 106 games this season, a year after winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award.
Ohtani, 25, made 10 starts on the mound in 2018, but was reduced to a designated-hitter role this season while his elbow was on the mend. He did throw bullpen sessions, mostly in the season’s second half, in anticipation of returning to the mound next season.
The Cleveland Indians’ efforts to close the gap in the American League Central were dealt a blow with the news that left-hander Brad Hand might not be available for a key weekend series against the Minnesota Twins.
Because of decreased velocity and second-half struggles that saw Hand blow four save opportunities and post a 5.68 ERA since the allstar break, Hand was sent to Cleveland for an MRI that did not show any structural issues in his throwing arm. But the Indians are ready rest their all-star closer anyway.
After a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels in California this week, the Indians had cut the Twins’ division lead to four games. They open a three-game series at home against Minnesota on Friday after an off-day Thursday.
Hand is 6-4 this season with a 3.36 ERA and has 34 saves in 39 opportunities. The three-time allstar leads the American League with 54 games finished.
New York Yankees right-hander Luis Severino is expected to make his season debut Tuesday when he starts against the visiting Los Angeles Angels.
The two-time all-star has been on the 60-day injured list with inflammation in his right rotator cuff and has not pitched since Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series. He also had a Grade 2 lat strain.
Severino, 25, is expected to join the team Friday in Toronto.
Severino earned his second straight all-star selection in 2018, finishing 19-8 with a 3.39 ERA and 220 strikeouts in 32 starts (1911/3 innings). Jonathan Villar hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning to help the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-3 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night. The 443-foot shot to left off left-hander Caleb Ferguson (1-2) was the 6,106th in the majors this season, setting a new record. The old mark was established in 2017.